


The Dragons

by TheDuchessUnseen



Series: Gibraltar [2]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Western, Period-Typical Homophobia, Period-Typical Racism, sword fights
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-27
Updated: 2019-08-27
Packaged: 2020-10-01 21:43:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20414728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDuchessUnseen/pseuds/TheDuchessUnseen
Summary: Hanzo Shimada is a good, loyal son. He's the one that can be counted on, he always obeys his family, always does what's best for them...





	The Dragons

Ten years ago…  
  
Hanzo Shimada stood nervously outside his father’s room. He had no idea what was going to happen, but he knew it wouldn’t be good. The Shimada clan had always been close to Emperor Meiji and the senior Shimada had spent a great deal of time in counsel with the Emperor at the palace earlier. When his father returned, he went straight to his chambers and had a servant tell Hanzo to wait outside. Hanzo had a sneaking suspicion that his father wanted to talk to him about Genji. Hanzo loved his younger brother but he was young and immature, much more so than Hanzo had been when he was Genji’s age; but no matter what he did or how much mischief he got himself into, he was Hanzo’s brother, and Hanzo loved him.  
  
“Hanzo.” his father called from inside his chambers, “Come in please.” Hanzo dutifully obeyed, swinging open the doors and closing them behind him before kneeling in front of his father. “I held an audience with the Emperor today.”  
  
“What did you see him for father?” Hanzo asked.  
  
“You misunderstand,” his father said with a raised eyebrow. “He requested my presence, my help.” Hanzo nodded slowly.  
  
“And can I assist you in any way father?”  
  
The older man smiled softly, “That’s why I love you my son, you always do your duty. Yes, yes I think you can.” He got up and walked around the room, stopping at the window, his eyes settling on the garden outside. “The Emperor wished to discuss your brother.” Hanzo felt the hair on the back of his neck prickle. “It seems a rumor has reached him, one that carries great peril for us.”  
  
“And Genji can help fight this peril?”  
  
“No.” he said, turning to face Hanzo, “Genji is the peril.”  
  
Hanzo was sweating now, desperately he fought the urge to wipe his brow, this was bad, very very bad; Hanzo couldn’t imagine what Genji had done, but he knew once again he’d have to fix it. “What has Genji done father?”  
  
Hanzo’s father sighed, and bowed his head. “It seems that your brother is a lover of men.” Hanzo felt his jaw drop. This was impossible, even Genji wouldn’t do that, it was illegal, once exposed the clan would be forever shamed. Dimly, Hanzo realized his father was still talking, “- then the Emperor told me that since we were such loyal subjects and had done so much for him that he would not make this…embarrassment known, but something would have to be done about Genji.” Hanzo let out a relieved sigh, exile then, and Hanzo would be the one to escort him, he could do that. “Hanzo.” his father said urgently, his eyes boring into Hanzo’s intently, “You must kill your brother.”  
  
Hanzo stood, horrified at what he had just heard. “No.” he said to his father for the first time in his life, “Exile him father, please I cannot do what you ask, he’s my brother!”  
  
“And he is my son!” the older man yelled. “You think this comes easy to me?” He sighed and placed a hand on Hanzo’s shoulder. “I know this is hard, but you must do this, it is the only way to restore our families honor. You are strong my son, please do this for me.” Hanzo felt as if he was going to be sick, he couldn’t kill Genji, but he couldn’t defy his father, he couldn’t disgrace the clan.  
“I will father.” Hanzo said in a voice that was not quite his own, “I will kill Genji.”  
The older man sighed and smiled sadly. “Thank you my good dutiful son, thank you. Wait till he sleeps tonight; this must be done quickly and quietly.” Hanzo nodded, his blood like ice in his veins, as he left his father’s chambers, still not believing what he had just promised to do. He walked back to his own room, his own words echoing in his head the entire way there, ‘I will kill Genji’.  
  
Later that night Hanzo stood outside his brothers’ room, jaw clenched, steeling himself for what he was about to do, what he had to do for his family. Hanzo opened the doors softly made his way over to his brothers sleeping form- and stopped. Genji was snoring softly, drool dripping from a corner of his mouth.  
  
It was twenty years ago, a terrible thunderstorm raged outside, but Hanzo didn’t even notice, even at eight years old he could sleep through anything. Slowly he became aware of a small hand shaking his shoulder.  
  
“Hanzo, Hanzo wake up!” a tiny voice pleaded. Hanzo opened his eyes and turned to see his younger brother beside his bed, his small arms hugging himself tightly.  
  
“Genji! What’s wrong?” he asked softly.  
  
“It’s-” a clap of thunder shook the house, making Genji wince.  
  
“You’re scared of the storm?” Hanzo asked. Genji bit his lower lip and nodded. “Climb in then.” he said throwing his sheets aside.  
  
“Really?” Genji asked, relief flooding his voice.  
  
“Of course!” Hanzo told him. The younger Shimada jumped eagerly into Hanzo’s bed, nestling contently onto the pillows, before he knew it, Genji was already asleep. Hanzo sat there, looking at him for a long moment. “Don’t worry brother,” he whispered, “I’ll always protect you.”

Hanzo hadn’t thought about that night for a long time, now, looking down at his brothers sleeping form he could recall it with crystal clarity. ‘I will always protect you.’ he had sworn, now here he was, planning to kill him. Hanzo looked at the sword sheathed at his side in disgust, how could he even think about killing his brother? But still, something had to be done, he knew his father would not tolerate his decision, but there was another way.  
Genji woke abruptly, and as the vestiges of sleep left his eyes he saw Hanzo standing over him, looking around nervously. “Hanzo? What is it?” Hanzo shushed his brother quickly before kneeling next to his bed.  
  
“It’s father, he went to see the Emperor today.” Genji raised an annoyed eyebrow, Hanzo knew he didn’t care about their fathers’ dealings, why did he wake him up for this?  
  
“So?” he asked irritated.  
  
“Genji it was about you, the emperor told father that you were gay.” Now Genji’s blood ran cold, if their father knew about this then he would- Genji saw the sword at his brothers’ side.  
  
“Are you here to kill me?” he asked, swallowing nervously.  
  
Hanzo hesitated for a moment, “No.” he said. “But he asked me to.” Genji had to take a moment to process what he had just been told, the shock of his own father wanting him dead was almost too much for him. It took him a moment to see a packed bag by his bed.  
  
“Is that mine?” he asked quietly.  
  
“Yes.” Hanzo nodded, “You need to get out of here, I’ll tell father you had already left when I got here, just get as far away as you can.” Genji’s head was spinning, this was all happening to fast, why did his damn father have to ruin everything? He felt his head begin to spin, then Hanzo gently placed a hand on his shoulder.  
  
“Listen brother, this will be okay, you will be okay, but you must go now, I’ll take you to the gate.” Genji nodded, tears in his eyes. His only thought being if he would ever see his brother again after tonight.  
  
“Let’s go.” he said.  
  
Hanzo nodded, “I’ll be outside waiting for you.” he said as he got up and closed the door behind him. Genji quickly got up and got dressed, grabbing the bag he opened the door, taking one final look at his room before joining Hanzo in the hall. “Quickly.” Hanzo said walking towards the gate.  
  
The pair were almost through the large main room, Genji trailing a few steps behind Hanzo when a voice called out behind them.  
  
“So you have chosen to disobey me Hanzo.” they turned to see their father kneeling under the dragon mural high on the wall. “How could you do this.” he hissed, in barely contained rage, “You know what he can do to us.” Genji looked between the two nervously, wanting to just run out the door and never look back, he didn’t want to cause a rift between Hanzo and their father.  
  
“I will not kill my brother.” Hanzo said.  
  
“Fine.” their father said, “Then I will.” Without another word, he drew his sword and charged towards his youngest son. Genji stood frozen in fear as he saw his father running towards him, ready to strike him down, he saw the blade swinging down towards him and shut his eyes.  
  
The killing blow Genji was expecting never came, in its place was the sharp sound of metal against metal. He opened his eyes to see his fathers’ sword, centimeters away from his face, crossed with Hanzo’s own blade.  
  
“You will not kill him.” Hanzo proclaimed, “Not without killing me first.”  
  
Their father’s eyes narrowed, “My son. you do not know what you do!” he yelled, pulling his sword away and going for another blow which Hanzo easily deflected. The two squared up, circling each other like wolves around a kill. They both moved at once, their blades dancing intricately around each other; strike-for-strike they deflected each other’s blows in a perfect ballet miming the dragons locked in battle above them.  
  
As Hanzo continued to match his father’s aggressive strikes with his own he felt himself tiring, he didn’t have the skill to hold up against the more skilled fighter for long. He didn’t notice the kick until it was too late, his father’s foot caught him on the jaw, knocking him down. He turned and rushed toward Genji. Hanzo desperately pushed himself up off the floor and lunged at his father, tackling him to the ground. The older man got up and swiped viciously at Hanzo’s neck, Hanzo spun and dropped to a knee, letting the blade pass harmlessly over his head. He spun up with a diagonal swipe of his own which his father stepped away from. They charged each other again, father against son, the former going for another swipe, this one aimed at Hanzo’s waist where he wouldn’t have time to deflect it. Instead of retreating, and opening himself open to another attack Hanzo closed the gap between them, taking a spinning step towards his father, getting in past the swords long reach and plunging his own sword deep into his father’s belly.  
  
Hanzo gasped as his father’s eyes widened in shock. “Father.” he whispered desperately as the body fell backwards onto the floor. At that moment, a servant, drawn by the commotion looked into the room and screamed when he saw Hanzo standing over his father’s corpse, bloody sword in hand. The servant ran away, screaming for help. Genji recovered first, desperately shaking his brothers shoulder.  
  
“Hanzo, we need to leave, both of us, now.” Hanzo stood rooted to the spot, tears in his eyes. “Hanzo please!” Genji urged. He finally shook himself out of his shock and turned to flee with his brother away from Shimada castle.  
  
The two decided they had to leave Japan, Hanzo had no desire to leave his home but once the news that the eldest Shimada had killed his father he had little choice. They snuck aboard a ship bound for America. Hanzo hardly spoke, despite how much Genji tried to help him. They quietly snuck onto the docks at night, by that time, Genji hardly recognized his brother, gone was the young smiling man he knew and loved. Now Hanzo’s eyes seemed dimmer, a permanent frown etched on his face.  
  
Before they had left Japan Hanzo bought a bow from an illegal weapons merchant, a bow that he kept on his back, just above his sword that he had not touched since the night he killed their father. They performed whatever jobs they could, their father insisted on them learning as many languages as they could as children and English was one of them.  
  
After losing one of their many jobs due to what Hanzo had come to know as Genji’s uncanny ability to romance whatever attractive man he came across, the two rode into a small town; their wide-brimmed hats, an accessory that Genji loved but Hanzo despised, keeping the glaring sun out of their eyes. No business owner would even look at them, saying they didn’t hire ‘Chinese’. The two were about to give up when a man about Hanzo’s age rode up to them, hopping off his horse, he spoke in accented English.  
  
“I hear you two are looking for jobs.” he said regarding both, “Have you much experience with horses?”  
  
The brothers looked at each other, before Genji spoke “We do.”  
  
“Good.” the man said with a disarming smile. “Consider yourselves hired, my name is Gérard Lacroix.”


End file.
